Many of these children have lost their fathers and mothers in the war against Israel. I feel happy by the side of these children.” These are th words uttered by Robabeh Sadr, Imam Musa Sadr’s sister. She is the director of Imam Sadr’s Charitable and Educational Organization in South Lebanon.

Concerning the disappearance of her brother, she said in an interview: “The intensification of the aggressive policies of the Zionist regime as well as the occupation of the South Lebanon barred the exercise of sovereignty in Lebanon. That was because Israel refused to implement UN resolution 425 and did not withdraw from South Lebanon. Imam Musa Sadr felt it was his duty to inform leaders of Arab countries about the crisis in Lebanon. The leaders had a direct effect on matters. For this reason, he travelled to Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Algeria and called upon those countries to hold a summit meeting. He held talks with Houari Boumediene the then president of Algeria. At the end of the candid talks, which lasted for four hours, Boumediene said: “I am very elated to have seen you, because we had heard incorrect news about the war in South Lebanon and we were not aware of the facts, but now after holding these talks, everything has been made clear to me.” Boumedien also said: “I invite you to pay a visit to Libya, because my brother Gaddafi has incorrect information.”

In reply to this request, Sadr said that he would travel to Libya soon at the invitation of the Libyan government. On 28 July 1978, he received the charge d’affaires of Libya in his office, who invited Sadr to attend the people’s congress, hold talks with Col. Gaddafi in Libya. The meeting was due to be held on Aug. 19 or 21. Imam Musa Sadr accepted the invitation but hesitated about the timing, and about a month later he informed the charge d’affaires of Libya that he wished to travel on 25 August 1978, and had to leave Libya by Sept. 1, 1978 to take care of his sick wife who was under treatment in France. On Friday 25 Aug. 1978, he went to Libya accompanied by Sheikh Mohammad Yaghoub and Ostad Abbas Badreddin (director of the Lebanese news agency) and stayed at the Alshati Hotel in Tripoli as the official guest of the Libyan government. Some people had seen them until the 5th day but since then nobody knows anything about them. On the fifth day, a car came to take them to visit Gaddafi. However, after their departure nothing has been heard about them.

Sadr’s Biography

Seyyed Musa Sadr was born in1928 in the famous Iranian city of Qum. He attended his primary school in his hometown and then moved to the Iranian capital Tehran where he got a degree in Islamic Jurisprudence in 1956. He went back to Qum where he started to give religious lectures in various religious institutes of the city. He also published a magazine called “Maktabi Islam”.

In 1960, he came to Lebanon to hold the position of the Islamic Shiite religious leader in the southern city of Tyre following the death of Sayyed Abdelhussein Sharafeddine. In addition to the religious field, he developed interest in the social and living conditions of the Shias. In 1969 the Higher Islamic Shia Council was founded and Seyyed Sadr was elected as its president for a period of 6 years. He was later known as Imam. In the beginning of 1975, he was reelected for a period that was to end when he became 65 (i.e. on March 15, 1993).

Imam Musa Sadr founded many social institutions, vocational schools, health clinics and illiteracy obliteration centers. His activity gained an important national dimension as he warned of the dangers of Israeli aggressions against South Lebanon - whose majority happens to be Shia. However, as the Imam realized that his struggle should not acquire a restricted sectarian outlook, in 1971 he established a committee that included all the Southern Lebanese spiritual leaders (both Muslim and Christian) to follow-up the political and social activities.

In August 1978, al-Sadr departed for Libya with two companions to meet officials of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi’s government. They were never heard from again, and many believe that they met with foul play at the hands of Gaddafi.

What to do!

The family of Lebanon’s influential Shia Muslim Leader, Imam Musa Sadr, who disappeared during a visit to Libya in August 1978, urged the National Transitional Council to procure his release after Libyan revolutionaries overthrew the regime of Colonel Mo’ammar Gaddafi, who was responsible for Sadr’s kidnapping.

While Sadr’s family believes that he is still alive and remains a prisoner in Libya, Gaddafi’s former associate Abdel-Monem al-Houni had claimed in February, shortly after the start of the popular uprising against Gaddafi’s regime, that Imam Sadr was murdered and buried shortly after being kidnapped.

“We appeal to those who will take over in Libya after the collapse of the tyrant [Gaddafi] to give special attention to this case and take the necessary measures to safeguard the Imam’s life before his safe return,” Sadr’s family said in a statement addressed to the Libyan National Transition Council.

“We are confident that the Libyan National Transition Council will show devotion with regard to the release of the Imam and his companions, presenting to the world another achievement by revolutionaries,” the statement released by the family added.

The family’s appeal to free Sadr, the founder of Lebanon’s Amal Movement, following the release of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The family added that the Lebanese government should assume its responsibilities promptly and pursue diplomatic, security, judicial and media efforts to release Sadr and arrest Gaddafi.

The Iranian parliament plans to dispatch a team to Libya to probe into the fate of the Iran-born Lebanese Shia cleric and leader, Imam Musa Sadr.

Javad Karimi Qoddousi, chairman of the committee investigating the situation of Sadr, has said that parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee is sending an investigation team to Libya.

“We need to contact Libyan revolutionaries who have been witness to the martyrdom or presence of Imam Musa Sadr in Libya,” Qoddousi stated. Qoddousi added that following the fall of the Libyan fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi, the Iranian parliament is stepping up diplomatic efforts to clarify the fate of Imam Musa Sadr. As Sayyedeh Robabeh said,: ‘’I have had a feeling during all these years that he is in good health, and perhaps there was a good cause that he was far from social activities. I have faith in the Omnipotent and if He wishes Sadr to be healthy, then he will be healthy.”  All of us should pray for his health and hope to see him in the near future, inshaallah. Amen.